New Left 4 Dead Campaign Comes Pre-Loaded With Controversy

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New Left 4 Dead Campaign Comes Pre-Loaded With Controversy

Valve has just announced the second expansion to their zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, and somewhere, a disgruntled fan is already fuming.

The "Crash Course" campaign will support co-op play, player-vs-player matches and survival mode. Narratively, this new sequence will provide a bridge between the "No Mercy" and "Death Toll" campaigns. The original cast return to provide new dialogue for the survivors as they fight their way through new settings and hole up for an "explosive" finale. The expansion is due in September for both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the games.

But in what is sure to be a talking point for irate Valve fans, the content will be free for the PC, but cost 560 points on the Xbox 360. The previous Survival Pack expansion is free to both camps, but includes only one new location.

The "Crash Course" campaign will also be shorter, playable in a half-hour rather than the rough hour it takes to play the game's original four campaigns. This too will irk some, but this "streamlining" will make versus matches feel more bite-sized. Right now, a typical eight-player match can take up to two hours.

A particularly risible faction of Left 4 Dead fans is already on edge over the surprise announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 at E3 earlier this year. They complain that the original game didn't get all the expansions and downloadable content they were promised. Will "Crash Course" help placate them? Or will they just add the grievance to their boycott petition on Steam, which boasts over 40,000 members?